>> did you learn anything today? >> i learned as great as "the book of mormon" is you shouldn't take preteens to it. >> now you tell her. >> everyone was looking at me. >> great acting lesson, though, for inspiring actors. >> oh, absolutely. >> don't act. >> yeah. that's what robert mitchum used to write. nar on his scripts, no acting required. >> thank you, we appreciate it. >> we look forward to seeing the show. i'm excited. i'm going. >> we will go. we have to wrap it up. mike, if it's way too early, what time is it? >> "morning joe" but right now it's time for chuck todd and "the daily rundown." congress needs something to get something on paper. no news might be good news, if

you want a deal as both sides work behind the scenes to find a way to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. it's a family affair. the macks are here. they're both leaving congress next year, not on their own terms but not before trying to figure out our fiscal future and even they don't agree on what to do. plus, a major fight over the role of labor and their power. it all unfolds in michigan. is it the new wisconsin? find out what is driving the big change in the state. that's home to one of the most powerful unions out there. the united auto workers. good morning from washington, tuesday, december 11th, 2012. i'm chuck todd. one of those times in washington when the less that is said the better the news may be, that is if you hope lawmakers and the president come to an agreement on a verdict in this so-called fiscal cliff. we know some of you don't want to deal, but the president has no public events today and not many planned for this week.

many at the white house and congress believe the less that anyonecome pains publicly the better the chances are at striking some sort of fragile deal. the president was back on the road monday trying to wheel a little bit of his political capital to drive home the deal that he wants at a minimum on the fiscal cliff. >> typical middle class family of four will see an income tax hike of around $2,200 how many of you can afford to pay another $ $2,200 in taxes? not you? i didn't think so. we can solve this problem. congress needs to sign a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. everybody. >> but the president was noticeably less confrontational towards republicans. i understand people have a lot of different views. i'm willing to compromise a little bit. >> can't help but wonder if that

softer tone is all about the fact that it came a day after he sat down with john boehner, the speaker. first one-on-one meeting between the two men in 18 months, believe it or not. give them more freedom to negotiate without political interference. but even as the president dials back the rhetoric, there is harsh stuff going on on the other side. campaign arm of the house democrats is doing just the opposite of dialing it back. robo calls going in 35 republican house districts that direct listeners to this not so subtle position gophostagetakers.com. helping speaker boehner, conservatives who are now saying it's just a matter of time before he makes a deal on tax rates. >> my view is, get the tax issue off the table, it's the weakest one for republicans. >> boehner does not have unity behind him. so, it looks as if his path is going to be to concede on rates.

>> i guess what i'm saying is i don't think there is a republican alive who could stop what is going to happen. we don't have the leverage. the power isn't there. >> there it is. you heard rush himself, not a republican alive that could stop the rise in tax rates. today, house members who streamed out of the capital last wednesday returned to town and they're facing a new enemy. it's called the calendar. to avoid the slew of tax hikes and spending cuts to take effect on january 1st, they need to pass by december 21st if they want to be home by christmas. baner and the president have to agree on a framework probably by the end of this week, saturday or sunday by the latest. congress still has to write the bill. remember the talks resolve around three large sticking points. big one is tax rates. white house wants them raised, but is willing to negotiate how high. maybe not only to 39, maybe it's 37.

entitlement reform perhaps changing how and when folks would receive medicare and social security and thinks mean testing and the change in the cpi, cost of living index and then there's the debt ceiling. the president wants more unilateral power to raise the country's input with less input for congress. we'll get into that in a minute. whatever the deal is cut, remember this, it would be very fragile and wouldn't just be struck with a hand shake. each one of these elements will likely have some form of trigger. basically more cliffs. just no time to get tax reform and entitlement changes done before the holidays. but the biggest sticking point may end up being not taxes or entitlements, but the debt ceiling part of this deal. republicans have been ratcheting up their rhetoric claiming it is their leverage and maybe their only leverage. >> here's where the president is going to have a rude awaken. we'll get to the end of the year and some small deal to get us past the end of the yeek but in

february or march, you have to raise the debt ceiling. i can tell you this, there is a hardening on the republican side. we're not going to raise the debt ceiling. >> white house is worried about this, that's why they want the net ceiling part of this deal. avoid taxes and entitlement because they don't want to have the show down in february. how much does boehner decide to keep the debt ceiling as leverage for later in order to get republican demands met and in order to sell the sort of lumps of coal they have to take when it comes to tax rates. let's move on to a big political fight developing in michigan. right to work. phrase like death tax. a political catch phrase that proponents use for persuasion. in the 1940s before a law called the taft-hartley act was passed, unions could have closed shops. in order to work somewhere, you had to be a member of a union. giving employees "right to

work." the term used for a series of bills in the '40s and '50s predominantly in the south and west that ban requirements that nonunion employees pay unions for negotiating contracts and other services. for years, right to work laws were primarily concentrated in states that didn't have history of labor unions, but that's changed. now, 23 sfats have right to work laws. as you can see, it's encroaching in on the midwest and not quite in the northeast yet. republicans stand on the crus. in the state that might be most associated with unions, michigan. organized labor groups have called for a day of action and are expecting thousands to descend on the capital. as the state legislature reconvenes for what is final work to right bill. the latest in the midwest, a as we remember scott walker pushed

legislation through his state house that pushed employee. john kasich's efforts to curve collective bargaining was only stopped when voters reversed the law through a ballot initiative, but conservatives haven't managed to get a right to work law passed in either state. republicans in michigan are using indiana as their model where governor mitch daniel got a right to work law passed earlier this year. rick schneider said it would boost business in his state. >> indiana's a good illustration. they did this last february. they found at least 90 different companies cited this as a factor when they contacted the indiana economic corporation and they have at least 30 that have moved ahead with projects. >> until very recentrecently scr appealed for crossover votes during that republican primary, calling it divisive. yesterday democratic lawmakers

descended on the capital from washington. but both the michigan state house and senate are controlled by republicans. and this is pretty much inevitable. the labor movement has already lost these fights everywhere else. still, president obama who was making a preplanned stop at a uaw representative factory in the detroit suburbs couldn't escape commenting on the fight so he weighed in yesterday denouncing the proposed new law. >> what we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages and working conditions. so-called right to work laws, they don't have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics. what they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money. >> schneider made this counterargument. >> michigan workers are hard-working people.

and shouldn't they be able to make the choice they see value in the union and, again, hopefully make the unions more accountable and work harder to make sure they're showing workers the value proposition is why they should pay. >> and now you just heard the message as to why labor usually uses these battles over so-called right to work legislation. it is that word choice. republicans always argue, we're just giving the workier to be i a choice and pay those dues, not pay those dues. the president is right this is about political money and political power in the long run. but this is a loozing messaging fight for labor on this front. they have to ask themselves. they may win this fight short term in michigan, but they'll watch these states over time. this issue right to work, do they move on from that and, instead, try to lock in on other issues like collective bargaining. as the republican party

tries to regroup, the party to get its act together. launched an effort dubbed "the growth and opportunity project." cgop. to examine what worked and what didn't in the 2012 election. rnc's henry barbour, zor fonalledas, glenn mccall. eight key areas including campaign and ground game and messagin messaging, fund-raising and democrats. will autopsy efforts satisfy grassroots conservatives who believe they're simply in the business of making money. conservative outlets have drawn attention to the fact that a third of the money the rnc spent on vendors were paid to one telemarketing firm.

red state blogger erick erickson has made similar accusations about the consultant class. would the rnc have served itself better to have someone who was willing to break china on that vibe. are those five folks willing to break china? we know ericsson is. kki haley is holding a news conference at noon. we do at least now know one thing about what she's up to. yesterday haley released a statement saying the state would be best served by a u.s. senator who would work hard day in and day out. same quote, accordingly, i reject the option of a place holder. she is it going to be in tim scott's district, that is why there is some bubbling up there. you have to think that she may be deciding to let this play out a little bit longer and let the media attention help a little bits far as her own base

politics is concerned. up next, the macks are back. will be here. they both lost their races in november. find out what these spouses are saying now about the climate in washington and they disagree with how to deal with the looming cliff. what is that like. nothing public. no fiscal cliff photo-op of the day. although, told we may have to watch for twitter hash tags. yo can i help you? i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office.

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. >> the american people are asking for answers to this problem. we need to put someone forward

who has a plan and really address this as a problem. >> i think about my son who is 9 years old and, you know, if we have a plan that doesn't balance for 28 years, he's going to go to high school, go to college, graduate, get married, have a job, start planning for the future of his kids before we balance our budget. we can do better than that. >> connie mack and his wife mary bono mack joined me back in august to talk about washington gridlock. the two will depart washington in february, but not before weighing in on the fiscal cliff. welcome back. >> thank you. >> congressman, let me start just a question to both of you. would you describe yourself as disappointed, bitter, upset? how would you describe your post-election feelings? >> i don't know if i'm angry, disappointed. any of those things. new chapter in life. i wish i would have won, but that didn't happen.

the voters made a different decision. i'm still very passionate about the things that brought me to the congress in the first place and i hope to continue to stay in that fight. so, i don't have any of those emotions of feeling like a negative feeling at all. >> are you in the same place? you were in a very close race. >> i guess a little bit different. the number one take away is the absolute privilege of being able to serve the 14 years that i served you can't help but look back and be really appreciatative that i had the opportunity to be here and make my mark. no doubt there is a grieving period when you lose an election, but i worked quickly through that point and very excited about my next chapter in my life. >> i want to talk about the cliff for a minute. what is your biggest lesson learned? if you ran again for office would you take away and say, not to make that mistake again? >> not to run again for office. no, no, no. you know, i think for me i think the lesson learned would be, you

know, sort of like the old country song, to live every day like it's the last. when you're ledgislatinlegislat should recognize that every year could be your last year in office. make your mark. i think i did that. >> that's your advice to other members, hey, it isn't a long-term contract. it's a two-year contract. >> there wur thinsh that i observed in new members when they come to the congress, they think they're going to change the world overnight. you have to give yourself the time to be a well-seasoned legislature and also recognize that if you don't take your moment now and go for it. >> two quick things. first of all, when you think you're a new member of congress, look at the furniture in your office, as quickly as you were moved in, you could be moved out. >> somebody is keeping track. >> that's not yours. but, two, i would say that be who you are from the beginning to the end' in other words, don't let all of this change who you are as a person because one

minute you might be a member of congress and the next minute you're not. as long as you stand up for what you believe in and what is right, then you can either be in or be out and be happy. >> both of you have votes coming up. big votes potentially. we assume that they're going to bring something to the table. at a minimum, to the middle class tax rate. what are you. what does boehner have to come back to you with? >> we can do that on our own. >> what does speaker boehner have to come back to get your vote to agree to tax hike? >> well, i'm not going to agree to a tax rate hike. >> you are done. against anything he has. >> i don't think there is something that speaker boehner would bring to me that would be enticing enough to vote for a tax increase. i have never voted for a tax increase. i don't think that's the right way to dogo.

>> you're a no vote no matter what. >> if they're going to raise taxes. here's the question people need to ask. do you feel like the federal government spent your money wisely? no one answers that, yes. why would you give the federal government more of your money? we all know there is a spending problem. nothing is on the table about significant cuts to balance this budget. i have a plan that would balance the budget in five years. i

wish no taxes would go up on any american. i don't think it's good for the economy. but in this case, i think we need to get beyond it and get some certainty out into the economy. >> if boehner comes back and says, okay, i feel like i've cut the best deal i can. i'll vote for this. that's probably something you can support. >> if it truly is the best deal, yes, i will. i have faith, actually, in what speaker boehner is doing. i think he's letting the process work and i think i said it before. the timeline of the holidays and fiscal cliff looming and negotiations will come to a point where there has to be a best point. >> the jet fumes of national airport is the joke, but how big is that christmas holiday, if that is threatened, will that motivate more people to vote for something? >> if you want to see how this vote will come down. look at the first bailout or

t.a.r.p. bill. >> one vote up and one vote down. i don't think anybody will get there. if you look at the people who maybe voted no the first time and then voted yes, that's probably the -- the vote that boehner has to get to and say, i need you on this one. people like me -- >> were you no both times? >> i was no both times. >> where were you? >> i was yes both times. >> members of the same party. thanks for coming in. good luck and stay in touch. thank you very much. up next, senator mccain's bid for more influence on capitol hill. plus, developing news on whether syria's leader will resort to chemical weapons. after california, which state had the most incumbent members of congress looz -- we' right back. military life is dif.

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on the radar this morning, governor cuomo speaks about 2013. senator mccain committee seat that could impact the secretary of state nomination. leon panetta arrived in kuwait to meet with kuwaiti officials. on the way there, the pentagon chief talked about syria. >> at this point, the intelligence has really kind of leveled off. we haven't seen anything new indicating, you know, any aggressive steps to move forward in that way. i'd like to believe he's got the message. we've made it pretty clear and others have, as well. >> in related news, aerkt of state hillary clinton had to cancel her trip commreepletely morocco. she has a stomach virus and a deputy will join the meeting in her place. meanwhile, talks about a potential clinton 2016 bid for

president they will not die down until she announces she's running or not running. new york governor andy cuomo was asked what he thought about clinton running for president. here's what he said. >> a long way away. we just elected a president and they want to talk about the next election. no doubt that she is incredibly popular. she has great experience and there is going to be all sorts of speculation about her political future and she is the person that is going to make the decision. >> by the way, perfect reasonably response. what i was stunned at so many people took that and said, cuomo won't endorse hillary 2016. guys, that was a pretty, that was your standard response of what you're supposed to say at a moment like that when you're a politician. hawaiian senator is in the hospital to regulate his oxygen intake. he has to remain in the hospital for observation. his office said he was

misdiagnosed with lung cancer in the '60s and had a large part of his left lung removed. recently his doctors have suggested he begin using oxygen. the 88-year-old senator hopes to return to capitol hill as soon as doctors allow. he begins his 50th year serving in the united states senate on january 3rd. senator john mccain is eyeing a spot on the foreign relations committee. if mccain gets the spot, he could greatly impact the confirmation of the next secretary of state. mccain has been a big critic of u.s. ambassador susan rice who is a possible choice for secretary of state to replace hillary clinton. finally after four years, the aig bailout is coming to an en end. the u.s. treasury is selling its remaining shares of the corporation bringing an end to government ownership of that large insurance conglomerate. shares of the company are said to be priced at $32.50. the opening bell is ringing

on wall street in a few seconds where investors are pinning their hopes on the fed today. a two-day meeting, starts today at the end of it we'll hear from chairman ben bernanke and talk about qe4. that's right a fourth round of quantitative easing in which the central bank buys up billions of dollars worth of treasuries. fiscal negotiations are also weighing on the markets. friends at cnbc did a survey and they put the chance of another recession at 2013 in about one in three partly because of the fiscal cliff. well, everyone plays the blame game in washington. up next, a deep dive with a pair of process pros who are getting a lot of buzz for their finger pointing. i thought i'd start the video

by showing you the apartment building where the fire was. when things like this happen, i think you find a new perspective on life. red cross put us in a hotel so we were able to stay together. we're strong and if we overcame that or if we can overcome that... we can overcome anything. [ sniffles ] ♪

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covering modern politics, it no longer applies. today's deep dive begins with a "washington post" essay and the authors made it clear that washington is broken and they said it's the republicans fault. it read in part, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the republican party. the gop an insurgent outliar and scornful of compromise unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science, dismousive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. consider themselves centrists for the record who would criticize either party with equal credibility. but they say the republicans hard right turn forced them to abandon the idea that the two parties could be covered equally. they blasted the main stream media for not telling that story out of fear of being called bias. they write, balanced treatment

of an unbalanced fenomnn distorts reality. our advice to the press, don't seek professional safety through the even handed unfiltered presentation of opposing views. psa, which was adopted from their book it's even worse than it looks. from two of the most popular men in washington to virtual pariahs, so they claim. at the same time, the article in the book was exploding on the internet. the original essay from april has been tweeted more than 4,000 times and recommended on facebook more than a quarter million times. co-authors of the book "it's even worse than it looks." and they are here, mr. orsteen, the american enterprise institute and governmental studdings at the brookings institution. welcome to both of you. >> thank you, chuck. >> norm, i want to start with you. first of all, remind people is

aei a conservative think tank or not? >> it is, but does not mean people have widely varying views. heritage it's not, especially with jim dimint going over there, i don't think anything will compare to heritage. >> the bigger issue, tom, that you believe we in the media have gotten it wrong. there is this back and forth. i guess what i would argue is, if, if a party believes what they're saying and they believe, if they get the perfect set of circumstances, then their fact, they believe will get there. how do you balance that one? >> you really have to go to the substance of what they're saying. we both acknowledge that it's hard for reporters whose

professional norms require some notion of fairness and balance. but in a time when we have what we call asymmetric polarization. with one of the parties, in this case, the republicans, has run so far off the track. if you use that model, will you obscure reality to the public and have little chance of any real accountability. >> the question then is judgmental. so, it's -- you're saying the press corps needs to make more judgments and saying, they're wrong. i always said you can't balance the truth. no such thing. fair and balance is such a phony statement. there is fairness, but not a balance. you don't balance facts, you don't balance truth. >> as the that's exactly the point. being fair seek out different expressions of viewpoint and the cases the people are making. but it also means if you look at a story and you see there aren't two sides that are equally balanced that one side or sometimes there are five sides. you don't fall back on the

reflects of quhaupwhat happens e time. he said, she said and treat them equally. there are moments when there is a clear case to be made. one side is a perpetrator and something that goes beyond the norms and the other side isn't and too often that just hasn't been expressed. >> when do you feel this began? where it sort of got, where you believe it went from sort of, it was the right way to do to where it's no longer the right way to do it? >> i think it has developed over the last two decades. but took new form as the grover norquist no new tax pledge and shape our ability to deal with the most serious problems and it, it really took off during the debt ceiling crisis. i mean, this was an unprecedented use of a device that, frankly, is not about

choices. it's about ratifying previous decisions to keep us from defaulting on our budget. >> but i look at the politicalization of the debt ceiling norm, which is something democrats participated in the same thing. not with the same venom, i will grant you that. here you have a sitting president who voted against the debt ceiling for his own political purposes. >> the fact is, this is hypocrisy in this area is abound. and it's been used as a game for many, many decades since we first got it. but in every instance before this last one in 2011, chuck, everybody knew it was a game. the leaders, we've talked to them multiple times. >> but plenty of us saying this was a game. this was, a game. but my point is, this is what they're doing here. they were trying to use it -- this is the first time explaining how politically crass it all was. >> this time it was different. this time it was a hostage taking mechanism where people determined to send it over the

edge. it was a different use of the debt limit and it was a conscious strategy long before this emerged which we know by the young guns. >> chuck, there is evidence that it hurt the economy. it really did. it made a serious difference. and that was, once again -- >> the press has said this. >> but you're not saying it now. we're now in the middle of negotiations over the fiscal cliff. one element of this is are republicans going to be in this position, once again, to take the debt ceiling and the good faith and credit the u.s. hostage? president obama says we can't be in that position, again. and you are described, you, the press says, well, he said, listen. this is extraordinary. you ought to be talking about the damage caused by -- >> there's no doubt on this debt ceiling issue. look, this is part of the negotiations, this is in the middle of the, sort of the three

tiered. they have a better chance of agreeing on taxes and entitlements than the debt ceiling. boehner who himself may agree, if we can't have this fight again because the business community will absolutely go crazy about it. he's got to bring back a political tool or some piece of victory. >> i would say, chuck, actually, the reporting now is better than it was a year ago. and some of what's happened is i think reporters have come to realize and many even republicans around that it's a party that went from being a conservative party to being a radical party and they're now struggling over their own radical wing. there's more of a willingness after this election, i think, to talk about it. but during the campaign, during many of these early negotiations, during a time when, for example, for the first time ever they raised, were going to use disaster relief as a wedge to get spending cut else where and resisted on the part of democrats and the democrats pick to fight on this. >> a concerted campaign by

activists, more so on the conservative side but liberal activists who are trying to delegitimize the press. that is their goal in order to make the activists the first place people go. that's not healthy. >> it's not healthy at all. it's terrible. but the way, the way you deal with it is not to cover and use sort of an artificial balance. it's to remember your job is to tell the truth and to report it as accurately as you can. even if it might embarrass you because it tends to favor one party over another. >> tom mann, two veterans here. i wanted you guys not to think you're being shunned. brought you right here. and, not only that, there was no seven-second delay necessary. >> you're a prince among men. first, the white house soup of the day. french onion. i think it's the greatest soup ever invented because if you put

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quiet on both ends of pennsylvania avenue today. but the president made it clear he's not dropping his demands on raising rates on the wealthy. >> here's the good news. we can solve this problem. all congress needs to do is pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. >> let's bring in today's gaggle roll call louise romano. welcome, all.

shira, i want to start with you. are you in the camp, is it fair to say that no news is good news? >> yeah. >> no public spectacle is good progress for deal? >> i think absolutely. i think the quieter it is, the greater likelihood that they'll come up with something, however small it might be before the end of the year. look, especially after last week when you had both sides trading jabs back and forth, oh, you leaked this to the media and you leaked that to the media. the quieter, the better. >> it seemed, louise, both sides are try dres prtly to not leak. my understanding, they're not even sharing with other hill people or other senate leadership. >> staff, they're keeping it in a tight circle of staff. the posturing is down to a minimum. obama stuck yesterday very close to his talking point which is, we have to tax the rich because he knows he has the following on that.

he's not attacking republicans at large. boehner has toned it down a few notches. you really just have lindsey graham over there shouting a little bit. >> even that is just -- speaking of lindsey graham, let's play it. even he's being careful in what he says. >> the game you're playing is small ball. you're talking about raising rates on the top 2% and run the government for 11 days. just got re-elected. how about doing something big that is not liberal. how about doing something that is bipartisan. every idea he has is a liberal idea that drowns us in debt. how about manning up here, mr. president. >> well, i keep reminding republicans on this is that the white house politically, they can't be the ones proposing major retitlement reforms because the base of the party will eat them alive. >> that's why he is recognizing give the 2% possibly on the tax, but that has to come from the republican party, it can't come from within the white house, yet

alone a democrat that just overwhelmingly won. >> sure you watch capitol hill as well as anybody here sitting at this table. this david price business the one conservative, tom price, excuse me. david price, tom price is floating the idea or letting others float the idea that he could challenge boehner if the deal's not that good. >> yesterday he said he was not going to do that, that said, i was surprised he didn't milk it for a little longer. so, this could be part of that ca callculati calculation. >> lois, i can't help but wonder, rush limbaugh say you don't have leverage of tax rates. >> they don't have leverage on tax rates. all they can do is work around -- >> not like they can't get anything for tax rates. so, the question is, what can they get in return for something? >> what can the republicans get? >> yes, they have to take home

something. they're going to lose this game, 60/40. 65/35. what is the win they can take home? is it just holding the debt ceiling and the ability to control the debt ceiling? >> if they hold it hostage, i think neither party -- >> they can't hold it but they can't afford to lose it. >> rumor that price is going to challenge bonner because they can go back. the tea party republicans can go back and say we fought this and we threatened the leadership because of it. that's minimum. >> interesting, i lad the two exiting lawmakers, the macks, connie mack said something interesting, lois. go analyze that vote of the nos that went to yes, sires on tarp. there is -- that's your target group. i was no both times. i ain't vote for anything. pretty honest about it. i'm probably going to support whatever boehner comes up with. but i thought that was an interesting place to look. i think it was smart. >> you know, i got to believe that even the very, very

conservative members can see what happened in this election. >> yes. >> and that the public just doesn't have a to ransz for the really far right obstructionist right now. >> what is the incentive of not doing a deal? before not doing a deal you had the election and you might win an election, right? that was july 2011 mindset of the conservatives. this time that's a different story. >> right. i think it's not having a challenge and recognizing a lot of the tea party because they are so gerrymandering that will go back to their base and say re-elect me in 2014. >> we're going to talk about republican repair efforts and see whether they name the right team. trivia, we asked california where seven incumbent house members lost, re-election, which state had the most incumbent members in congress lose in the general. illinois lost their races. representatives joe walsh, robert doyle, bobby shill willing not be returning to the 113th congress thanks to a democratic effort on gerrymandering in that state. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters?

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let's bring back our tuplets. the rnc announced their initiative, their autopsy, if you will, lois. and they named names, three members from the rnc to outsiders sally bradshaw, henry barber, from the establishment a little bit, haley barber, ari fleischer, a little bit of a familiar face to a lot of folks. it doesn't strike me as anybody on that list wants to break china. >> i think the kids new meaning to naval gazing. these are the guys who were saying all the polls were wrong. this was the delusional crowd. they needed fresh blood in there. what about somebody from rooub rubio's staff. >> i feel like they check boxes,

jeb bush person and haley barber person. >> that's right. nobody that can actually come in and tell them, this is what -- >> erick erickson and the folks have been obsessed with this issue about this sort of consultant culture of the republican party and that it needs to be broken. howard dean broke china at the dnc. >> he did. >> people didn't like it. nobody here -- are they going to break china? >> probably not unless there's a greater scandal that brings a lot of stuff to light. this is the way the republicans organize their consultants. it's a monopoly even in the polling industry, they have two pollsters who do 75%, 80% of their business. that was a big part of the problem in the last cycle. >> maria? >> more in memory of jenni rivera who passed away. incredible supporter of the latino community. we're going to miss her. >> two friends got married this weekend, congratulations.

>> you are in that wedding zone. >> fascinating recap of the convention. that's from all the campaign managers last week. it's going to be out in the book in a week. >> i love that. it's always a fun book. oral history of -- >> oral history. >> it always is. that's it for this edition of "the daily rundown." see you here tomorrow. chris jansing is next.